by Aaron Garcia
After more than 35 years of service, former Myers Park athletics director Greg Clewis called it a career on March 1.
In his 35 years as an educator – 27 of which were spent at Myers Park – Greg Clewis has worn his share of hats. Through the years, Clewis has coached football, swimming and baseball and of course, served as defacto groundskeeper to the Colony Road campus’s picturesque playing surfaces. In 1996, Clewis hung up his various coaching whistles to take over the seemingly endless position as the Mustangs’ athletics director. Since that time, Clewis’ department has won 10 Southwestern 4A Wachovia Conference Cups in 14 years, as well as three Wachovia State Cups, awarded to the top athletic department in each of the state’s four classifications.
On March 1, Clewis retired from his post at Myers Park and was succeeded by former basketball coach Rick Lewis. He plans to spend some time on his other passion: his family, including wife Susan, daughter Amy and son Wil. He’ll continue coaching the American Legion Baseball Post 292 team this summer, as he has since the late 1990’s, and is currently training for the 2011 Reebok Open Crossfit Challenge in California in late July. South Charlotte Weekly caught up with Clewis this week to reflect on his time at Myers Park.
Q: Looking back, what really stands out about your time at Myers Park?
A: The Wachovia Cups. Winning the Wachovia Cups and being named an exemplary school for the academic and the athletic piece. Those are kind of the highlights. We’ve been fortunate enough to have great families and really good coaches, and I got to go along for the ride on those things.
I think probably what you’ve got to remember is that except for a few bolts and screws, the facility is the same as it was when it was built in 1951. It’s not like we’ve been through this huge renovation where we’ve expanded because basically, we’ve got a (Class) 2A-school-size gym and our (football) stadium, folks have had a huge amount of pride in that. It’s not necessarily the prettiest and the cleanest and yada-yada-yada, but it’s a great place to play on Friday nights. Taking care of (Myers Park baseball’s) Jack Sink Field and being able to honor some of those folks who were there for all those years is another huge thing that I’m extremely proud of. (That way), people ask who Gus Percell (Mustangs’ football coach, 1951-1972) is and who Stuart Allen (Mustangs’ track and field coach, 1953-1970) is and who Jack Sink (Mustangs’ baseball coach, 1951-1983) is. The history of the school is pretty important.
I can honestly tell you that every day, the reputation and the history of Myers Park played on everything that I did. It was first and foremost on everything we did, in trying to find this coach or what we were going to do in this situation.
Q: What will you miss the most?
A: For me, it’s always the people. I guess when you look across time, the constant about Myers Park has been their passion for the combination of education and athletics and their willingness to do whatever it took to make it happen the right way.
Q: What is the hardest part about this position, day in and day out?
A: The hardest part is trying to convince people that (every) particular issue is not a crisis, that it’s OK, that we’ll get through this. (Parents) should love their children, but I think one of the big things – and as a parent, I face the same thing – is you have to let your children advocate for themselves. Let them fight the fight some, and that’s terrifically hard to do because they’re respectful and they’re taught to be respectful. But sometimes, if you don’t know why, you need to learn to ask why.
Q: Are you going to miss working on the fields?
A: Some days I do, because it is so important. I just kind of realized I’ve got to go cold turkey because if I go by and look at it and see something I don’t like, it’s not like there’s a lot I can do about it now. I do tend to call the guy who helps take care of that now (with things like), ‘I think first (base) is a little bit uneven; you think we could get that filled in?’ They just tell me to shutup and go home.
Q: What went into your decision to retire this year?
A: I just kind of really thought when I started that if I got 30 or 35 years in, I just wanted to be able to go out on my own terms when my health was good. If people still wanted you to stay around, that was important. I’ve just watched so many people that have to hobble out the door or they got sick and had to leave and they never got to live the other part of their life. It was always dictated for them; somebody got mad at them and told them they were too old to do it anymore. When I got to 35-and-a-half years (on the job), I just really thought that that was it. I just wanted to hang out with Susan some, do some things because she’s followed me around and done this, that and the other for so long. It just seemed like we’re both very blessed to be in good health, as far as I know. It was a good thing to not have to go into decrepitude, so to speak.
Q: Did the current budget crisis impact your decision?
A: No, I don’t think so, because I don’t think I knew or I don’t know – maybe somebody did – but I don’t know that anybody knew it was going to be as ugly or as bad as it appears it will be. So no, it wasn’t a budget issue for me. I just think I felt good about my health, I felt good about the time I spent here and I felt good about the people here. I think it was just time. I think I knew that. I said when I started that as long as it was fun everyday, then that’s when I wanted to do it. Then, when it became a job or it wasn’t what you woke up to do everyday, there was maybe some other issue you wanted to explore, then you needed to go figure out what they were.
Q: What’s next?
A: Well, you know, I’ve just really enjoyed (retirement). I’ve had some other folks call about some opportunities back at some other schools, so I’m really just trying to figure out if I want to jump back into something I just got done doing for so long. Would I be disappointed with where I was and compare it to what I’d done for so long at Myers Park? I think you do that a little bit because you can’t help it, but it’s not fair to other people to do that because Myers Park is just one of those unique places. But we’ll see. There’s a lot of praying going on that there’s an opportunity out there for me, and we’ll see what it is.
Q: Would a fresh start at a new job be enticing to you?
A: I think probably as some time passes. I’ve got to figure out just what the itch is. I hadn’t had that real itch to scratch yet, but we’ll see if there’s somebody out there that would like to talk to me about that. I’ve always been one who felt like he needed to listen.
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